


Manhunt

by usefulghoul



Category: Ghost (Sweden Band)
Genre: Cussing, Gen, Halloween, Hide and Seek, Manhunt - Freeform, Mystery, Scary, Spooky, Superstition, Suspense, being in the woods, cardinal copia shows up and says literally nothing, everyone is friends and its nice, everything works out in the end dont worry you're good, good clean scary fun, i crave words of affirmation, i guess thats relevant too it deleted some tags bc they were long, i have no idea how to use tags on here i really dont. what else is even relevant to my story., i show up for a brief moment and say like one line but it's cool because im friends with Rain, rip me i guess.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 10:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21251552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/usefulghoul/pseuds/usefulghoul
Summary: How scary could a game of manhunt on the clergy's grounds be? What if it was in the middle of the night? What if the clergy owned acres upon acres of thickly-forested, untouched land? What if you and the ghouls you were looking for weren't the only ones out there...?





	Manhunt

**Author's Note:**

> Ooo, such an original title. I would think of something better but damn, that just gets straight to the point. Happy Halloween pals! I literally wrote this while at work at the Haunted House I work at. And then finished it at home when I definitely should have been sleeping! But I wanted to make a Halloween fic for the ghouls since I missed the timing last year. This year as much as I'd go as a ghoul for Halloween, I'm going as sexy Ghostface! Inspired by a drawing from an artist I like.  
I make a brief appearance in here, too! Fun. Please give me feedback in the comments and let me know if I wrote scary stuff well or not. I was getting antsy just writing this myself. I didn't outline it at all, some parts I'd write thinking I'd go in one direction and then when I wrote another bit I'd think, "hmm, actually..." and go somewhere else. So none of this was planned, like most of my writing. I tend to just start typing and let the story take me where it takes me.
> 
> Well, without further a-Dewdrop, here's my spooky story! Happy Halloween from me, Useful ghoul!

“You’re fucking kidding me,” you whispered loudly, thunking the flashlight against the palm of your hand as it flickered - and then cut off.

You groaned, standing still in the middle of the dark woods. Shoving the dead flashlight into your hoodie pocket, you jostled your hand around and removed your phone, turning the light on from there.

“I should have charged the damn thing,” you lamented, shining the much dimmer light around in the dark woods. It was so quiet, you’d be able to hear a pin drop. “Maybe I should just call one of them and quit…”

The crack of a twig behind you had you whirling around in a split second, shining your phone’s light on your would-be assailant, who immediately screeched at the bright light in his eyes.

“DEWDROP!?” You yelled, backing up and tripping, falling onto your butt in the leaves beneath you.

The skinny ghoul stood before you, your phone’s light still glinting off his thinly spiralled horns in the dark. He pulled his hands away from his eyes, grinning down at you. “I got you! You were so scared, I got you!”

“Shh!! Would you keep it down!” You whispered harshly, making the ghoul clear his throat and quiet down. “That’s not how the game is played, you asshole. _I’m_ supposed to be finding _you_.” 

“I know, but I bet Swiss I could scare you, and I did!” He boasted, hands on his hips.

You groaned. Why did you agree to a game of manhunt in the middle of the night on Halloween? And with the ghouls no less? You stood up and dusted off your backside, turning around and shining your phone to the overgrown path in front of you.

“So do I go back to the house?” His voice piped up from behind you, as you began to follow the foliage-littered trail again.

“Keep it down,” you said quietly, “and if you want, yes. But you’re also free to help me look for your brothers and sisters. Your sense of smell is going to be better than mine.” You weaved between branches and a fallen tree, shining your light into the hollow space it left. The only ghouls that could fit in there would be Rain or Dew, and one was behind you. Why the fuck did they have to play on the church grounds? Was your backyard not good enough? The lands owned by the clergy were massive! You’re going to be looking for ages.

“Ok, I’ll help you, then.” Dew said, and then began sniffing the air. He immediately pushed past you and began traipsing off the path in the direction of even thicker brush.

“Where are you going!?” You whisper-yelled, stumbling after him with the faint light of your phone.

It was Dewdrop’s turn to shush you, which made you scowl. He stopped, completely still in front of a massive thicket. You peered around his back, and caught the faint glint of silver from the light of your phone. From the way he was sitting, it was possible he didn’t know you were here. You could hear soft music coming from his earbuds. Dew’s hand motioned in front of your face, and pointed around the side of the brush.

You turned your phone light off for this, and crept carefully around the left side of the brush, while Dewdrop snuck to the right. When you could make out the faint outline of him behind what you were sure was Aether, he gave you a (barely visible) enthusiastic thumbs up, and you launched yourself into the thicket and turned your phone’s flashlight back on.

“AAAAWHATTHEFUCK!!!” Aether bellowed, startling up and dropping his phone and earbuds. “Oh, Infernal- it’s just you!” He gasped, and chuckled, shaking himself as if he was a wet dog.

“Who else did you think it’d be?” You asked, smiling up at him.

“Dewdrop. He bet Swiss he could scare each of us tonight, so I’ve been sitting here with my earbuds in because I thought I’d be less jumpy if I couldn’t hear anything. You got me though. What happened to your flashlight?” He asked, noticing that you had your phone out instead.

“It died. Fucking annoying. Dewdrop said he could scare us all, huh…?” You mused, realizing he had crept up just behind Aether during your conversation.

“Yeah, has he not gotten you yet? I have no idea where he ran off to, the church grounds are maAASSIVE!!!” He yelped and swung around, but there was no one there. However, Dewdrop was laughing maniacally, attached to Aether’s back. “OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE!!!” Aether howled, trying to pry the smaller ghoul off him.

You couldn’t help but laugh, even though you felt bad for him. “Come here, come here, you,” you smiled, reaching to tug at Dew’s shirt and pull him off the bigger ghoul’s back. “You’re a nutcase, Dew, honestly.”

Once his feet were on the ground again he spun around to face you, fangs glinting in a smirk, “I know.”

“Alright, well now I’ve got two helpers.” You said, turning your flashlight back to where the path was.

“Well, no one else is back up that way, I can tell you that.” Aether said assuredly. “Rain told me where he was hiding, but he said I couldn’t tell anyone else.”

“That doesn’t really help then, does it, brother?” Dewdrop said snidely, crossing his spindly arms.

Aether huffed, and then turned to smile at you. “He didn’t say I couldn’t show you, though…”

“Thanks, Aeth, I owe you one.” You said kindly, following him as he began to lead the way to Rain’s hiding spot.

“What about me!?” Dewdrop cried, trailing along after you, “I helped you find Aether!” He whined indignantly.

“Yeah, but you _also_ scared the Hell out of me. Finding Aether for me was the _least_ you could do.” You said pointedly. “Now, hush.”

The smaller ghoul was relatively quiet after that, grumbling softly under his breath. You both continued to follow Aether deep into the woods on the clergy grounds. At this point, you were starting to get worried.

“Hey, Aether,” you piped up quietly, “you’re not taking us out here to murder us are you?”

The large ghoul chuckled quietly, “No, I’m not,” he was quiet for a moment, ducking under tree branches, “if I were you I’d be more worried about wildlife.”

That had your throat dry. You gulped audibly, causing Dew to smile.

“Don’t worry, we can handle it.” He said boldly, showing his fangs, even though you wouldn’t be able to see them in the dark (unlike he and Aether, who could see pretty well, even in the thick brush.)

The three of you walked for about ten more minutes before Aether stopped, and turned around with his pointer finger over his lips. He waved you over and leaned down with his lips against your ear.

“Ok, so,” he whispered, his breath tickling you, “I know you probably can’t see it as well as Dew or I can, but there’s a little stream about fifteen feet from here. Rain comes here sometimes to hang out. Walk forward quietly, and he’s curled up behind the tree trunk. You know how skiddish he can be, so don’t startle him before you’re right there; if you do, he has the chance to run, and who knows where he’ll go hide then?” He backed away from your ear and gave you a thumbs up, and you gave him one back.

He stepped away from you and turned back to say something to Dew, except… he was gone. “Well that can’t be good,” he noted quietly.

You turned back to ask him, “What can’t be good?” but before you could even start your sentence, a loud “RRAUUGHHH!!!” sounded off from Rain’s direction, followed by an impossibly loud shriek and the sound of footsteps. Approaching fast. Before you even knew what hit you (literally) Rain was in your arms whimpering.

“DEWDROP!!!” You yelled, running your fingers through the poor water ghoul’s hair. He whined and pressed his head further into the palm of your hand, his nubby black horns poking you.

Dewdrop let out a maniacal cackle as he strode back over to your slowly building group. “Three down, four more to go!”

“Rain,” you said, making him peer up at you from beneath his shaggy hair, “do you want to join us in looking for everyone else? Or do you want to go back to the house?”

Rain immediately popped up from your arms and shook his head ‘no’ vigorously. “I’d feel a lot safer with you guys, I don’t wanna walk back by myself, and I’d rather not walk with Dewdrop, or leave you alone with him by taking Aether…”

“Fair point.” You grumbled, shooting a cautious glare at Dewdrop, who gave you his best, “Who, me? What have I done wrong?” look, but there was a hint of mischief in his icy blue eyes.

“Alright, do we have any idea where anyone else is? Or are we going through the rest of this blind?” You asked as the four of you began walking.

“Well, to be fair, you’re the only one who’s really anywhere near blind right now.” Aether said, “But yes, I can smell Mountain not that far from here.”

“He didn’t wanna leave me all by myself,” Rain said, smiling softly, “I appreciate that.”

“That’s nice of him.” You pushed a branch out of your way, and turned around to say to Dewdrop, “Unlike some ghouls around here,” but he was gone.

“Oh no.” You said darkly, stopping.

“What?” Aether asked, turning around, “Oh no.” He said as well.

“How do we manage to keep losing him?” You asked, palm of your hand against your face.

“Well, Mountain isn’t that far from here, and there isn’t anywhere else Dew would be headed. Let’s hurry and maybe we’ll catch him.” Aether said, walking again with more conviction.

You and Rain trailed behind him until you stood in front of a massive boulder, surrounded by a few slightly smaller rocks. The area was covered in moss and surrounded by a few enormous, gnarled trees that you could barely make out in the darkness.

“I think Mountain is up there,” Aether whispered to you. He crouched down and motioned for you to hop onto his shoulders. He lifted you up and you scrabbled as quietly as you could onto the top of the rock. You could see a lanky, shadowy figure stretched out a few feet in front of you on the rough surface. Just as you approached him, he started to wake up.

“Oh shit!” You whispered, starting to back up.

“Oh, hey,” Mountain said, sitting up and yawning, “you found me. Did you find Rain too, then?”

“You’re not gonna run?” You asked, still crouched and ready to lunge at him if you needed to.

“No, don’t feel like it.” He began to stand up, rubbing at his eyes. Suddenly, from the ledge behind him in the small space between another rock, a hand gripped his ankle.

“AH FUCK!” Mountain shouted, yanking his foot out of the hand’s grasp and stumbling forward into you.

Dew’s evil laugh rang out from his hiding spot once again. “YES! Another one!!!” His other hand emerged, and then his head, as he clawed his way out of the small space he’d crawled in to.

“Has he been scaring everyone?” Mountain asked as he motioned to let you down off the boulder.

“Yeah, he has.” Aether piped up from below as he grabbed your waist and moved to put you down on the ground.

“Oh, so they found you too.” Mountain said. “Hi, Rain.”

“Hi Mountain, thank you for staying close by.” The smaller ghoul said, giving the taller one a hug.

“No worries, pal, no worries.” Mountain smiled. “Now, we can either find Swiss, or we can find the ladies. Take your pick.”

“Finding Cirrus and Cumulus will be easier because they’re bound to be hiding together or at least within earshot of eachother.” Dew said, joining your small search party, grimy from hiding between the mossy rocks.

“Well, your earshot is a bit further than mine, but that still makes it easier. I say we go for Swiss last.” You decided, turning your phone over to check the time. It was already freaking three in the morning!

“Yeah,” Dew chuckled evilly, “let’s keep the suspense going for Swiss, the longer he waits, he’ll start to get paranoid…” he said, grinning and rubbing his hands together.

“You’re evil, Dew, you know that?” Mountain said, turning his head and sniffing the air lazily.

“Hell yeah I am!” Dewdrop exclaimed, punching the air.

“Let’s get going, I don’t think they hid this far in the forest.” Aether, said, facing the same direction as Mountain. Mountain nodded to him, and they began to lead your group back towards the church.

After walking for what felt like ages, you were all back on the path. Aether and Mountain stopped, and motioned you to a tall and winding oak.

Your group’s ears perked up when you all heard faint whispering. You personally couldn’t make out what was being said, but Aether leaned down and whispered in your ear, “Cumulus said she’s surprised you didn’t find them first. Cirrus agreed with her, saying with all the talking Cumulus has done, she’s surprised no one at _all_ has found them.” You laughed internally at that. Leave it to those two to be chatty.

“Should we let Dewdrop scare them?” Rain asked, barely even a whisper.

“No! Of course not. We should not let him win a bet. Ever.” You said hastily, and Aether nodded sagely in agreement.

“I don’t think your decision matters much,” Mountain chimed in lowly, “look.”

You all turned from your voting session to see that Dewdrop had already crept up to the base of the tree. His tail was swishing back and forth, poised to leap up the trunk of the tree and begin climbing.

“Oh, fuck!” You whisper yelled, and immediately started working your way over to him. Before you could stop him, you heard Cumulus’s voice ring out.

“There they are! Hey! Hey, we’re up here!” She called happily, Cirrus lightly smacked her arm.

“Cumulus, that’s not how we’re supposed to play! We’re trying _not_ to be found!” 

“Oh. Well nevermind, then, go away!” She said in a cheery voice. Cirrus’s palm meeting her own face.

Before they even had a chance to climb down out of the branches, Dewdrop appeared right next to them with a loud, “BOO!!!”

“AAH!” Cumulus shrieked, nearly falling out of the tree. Cirrus, in her state of surprise, lunged at Dew and tackled him to the ground, rolling around in the leaves trying to attack him.

“AH!! SISTER, SISTER, IT’S JUST ME! IT’S ME!” He yelled, scrabbling away from her in the foliage.

“I know it is, you moron! That was dangerous! What if we’d fallen!?” She asked, standing up and dusting herself off.

“It’s ok, I’m fine!” Cumulus called, scurrying down from the tree. “Hi, how are the rest of you?”

“All fine.” Rain smiled.

“Ok, well that’s everyone except Swiss. Does anyone have any idea where he’d hide?” You asked, surveying your group.

“Not really, no.” Cirrus said, Cumulus, Aether, Mountain, and Rain nodding in agreement.

“Dewdrop?” You asked, turning to where the little gremlin had been on the ground. He was gone.

“Huh, okay…” You said nervously, “Can any of you smell him? He was just here.”

“Dewdrop!” Aether called, “You scared all of us once, you don’t have to do it again!” 

Everyone’s heads were turning looking for him, but it was like he just… vanished.

“Okay,” Cirrus started, “clearly he’s gone. We’re looking for him _and_ Swiss now, then.”

Just as you all began walking to go back deeper into the woods, Cirrus stopped.

“What is it?” Aether asked, turning around.

“She’s gone. I thought it was oddly quiet. It’s because Cumulus is gone, too.” Cirrus’s voice sounded relatively calm, but you could hear a hint of panic in her voice. Those two stuck together, them being separated… not good.

“Oh, fuck.” You said. “Okay, we’ll just… find them both.”

“Maybe they went back to the house?” Rain suggested, and you shook your head.

“Cumulus, maybe, but Dew? Who knows.”

The five of you continued on into the forest, quiet and nervous except for the occasional call for Swiss, Dew, or Cumulus.

Suddenly a twig snapped above you and you all stopped, looking up. You couldn’t make out anything in the inky shadows, so you whispered, “See anything?”

“No,” Aether whispered back.

Suddenly a ghoul let out a gasp and a twig snapped again next to you. Your group startled backwards and you yanked your phone out to shine onto the thick brush - but nothing was there.

“What… the Hell…” You whimpered, clutching Aether’s arm next to you.

“Guys…” Rain said, voice barely heard above the wind that had started to pick up, “where’s Mountain?”

Your blood ran cold. You slowly turned to look at Aether and he was completely frozen, staring at the area where you had all just been - Mountain included.

“This isn’t funny!” Cirrus called, which earned loud shushing from the rest of you. “What?” She asked pointedly, “I’m not scared, and you shouldn’t be either.”

“Sister,” Aether started, “with all due respect, _ghouls_ are getting picked off right now. I wouldn’t be so nonchalant.”

“Oh, trust me,” she said, glaring, “I care. We’re finding Cumulus.”

The four of you began walking along the path again, phone flashlight on this time. The ghouls may have pretty good night vision, but it just felt safer this way. Completely useless, though, when you tripped and fell, sending your phone tumbling down a fifteen foot hill full of thick underbrush.

“Infernal Lord! For real!?” You groaned, the four of you standing at the top staring down at the light you could see below.

“I’ll go get it.” Cirrus declared. You were about to protest, but she put her finger up, “The rest of you are scared. I’m not. It’ll only take a second.”

She began scooting down the hill, pushing past thickets and bushes and husky ferns until she reached the light. You were on edge the whole time, fighting the urge to bite all your nails off. You were pretty sure you could hear Rain’s teeth chattering over the wind.

Cirrus picked up your phone light and waved it at you, just as she began to climb her way back up the brush, the three of you heard a loud _CRACK_ from behind, and you all whirled around to see what the Hell was behind you. Nothing.

When you turned around… the light, and more importantly - Cirrus - was _gone_.

“Oh sweet Satan, oh sweet Satan, we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die!” Rain began whimpering, clutching onto your back and shaking, “Aether we’re gonna die!”

Aether stood frozen next to you. He quietly turned to look at you and, due to proximity, Rain as well. His voice, totally hushed, asked, “Does anyone else find it strange that we never found Swiss…?”

“That’s because whatever it is already got him, probably!” Rain whisper yelled, tucking his head down into your neck. “Look, I hate to say this, but we should just go back to the church! I know we shouldn’t leave our siblings behind but I can’t do this anymore!” He was screaming by the end of that sentence, and with one last yell he whipped around and took off back towards the church.

“Rain!!!” You called after him, turning back to Aether. He nodded, and you both began to chase after the water ghoul. It was impossible for you to see in the dark, though, and with how fast you ran, you quickly became winded. Soon you had to stop and bend over to catch your breath, the only things you could hear were your labored breath, the blood rushing in your ears and the howling of the wind that had _really_ begun to pick up.

Wait. Just _your_ breath?

“Oh my fucking Lucifer you have… got to be kidding me…” you panted, turning around to see that Aether was nowhere in sight. There was no way you outran him. He was far more athletic than you. There was no way he could have lost you, he could smell you. Which means… he was gone. Rain was gone. As you realized how alone you were, you noticed you were also completely off the path, and had no idea where it was. And with no ghouls to guide you. And with no working light. And with no phone.

You were well and truly alone in the massive acreage of the clergy.

Didn’t everyone often speak of these woods being haunted? Now was not a good time to remember that.

You had teared up a little, maybe you were about to cry, when you felt it.

The icy chill ran up your spine when you felt like you were being watched.

Didn’t they say earlier you should be more worried about wildlife…? Or should you be worrying about ghosts right now?

Your legs felt completely numb, your stomach frozen and your body stiff as the feeling of being stared at grew stronger. In your panic you wanted to run, but you felt like you couldn’t. You were barely breathing as the wind whipped and whistled around you and through the trees.

Just before you were about to start sprinting like your life depended on it - because it probably did - you felt a tap on your shoulder, and you _screamed_.

A warm, full laugh came from behind you and you _whipped_ around to see none other than _Swiss_ of all ghouls standing behind you. “Man, you should have seen your face! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so scared!”

“Of course I was scared, you dick! I had everyone with me and then suddenly they were gone!” You fired back, but even though you were mad - you were glad to see a familiar face, and you hugged him anyways. He smiled, hugging you back.

“Oh, yeah, speaking of…” He said, and took your hand and started leading you through the woods.

“Where are we going…?” You asked nervously. You’d had enough for tonight, and really just wanted to get back to the church and sleep in already.

“You’ll see.” Swiss said, chuckling darkly.

“Okay… Swiss… I think everyone probably went back… We should, uh, we should go back too…” You suggested, tugging lightly at his hand - that tightened around yours.

“Oh, no. They didn’t. I know they didn’t.” He said, smiling and pulling you towards him. “They’re all here.”

He motioned in front of you and you looked down to where the ground made a very steep drop. At the bottom, you could make out the faint black shapes of…

“Oh, I forgot, you don’t have ghoul vision,” Swiss said cheerily, and turned on _your phone’s flashlight_ to reveal your friends laying in a heap at the bottom of the ditch.

“OH MY GOD!” You cried, lurching forward instinctually for your friends. You stumbled back when you almost slid down, pressing into Swiss’s warm chest.

Wait. He had your phone.

“OH MY GOD, YOU-“ You began to yell, starting to whirl around, but he cut you off.

“It’s okay! You can go too!” He grinned, giving you a solid push and you tumbled down into the ditch, screaming like a banshee the entire way down.

You laid at the bottom sobbing, surrounded by the bodies of your friends. Suddenly a loud grunt was heard above you, and you shrieked as Swiss landed on top of your legs.

“Ouch, what the fuck!” He yelled, turning your phone light up towards… Sister Imperator and Cardinal Copia!?

“Alright, ghouls!” She called down bitterly, “I think you’ve done enough scaring tonight! Get your sorry butts back to the church, _NOW!_” She turned, cloak billowing as Copia gave a worried smile your way and quickly followed after Sister.

“She’s right, that was kinda mean…” Rain piped up quietly, and you gasped, tears running down your face.

“_YOU MEAN YOU’RE NOT DEAD!?_” You yelled, smiling with relief and wrapping the water ghoul in a tight hug.

“No, none of us are dead, though I’m flattered you would cry over us.” Aether said, sitting up and ruffling your hair. 

Cirrus sat up and crawled over to you and gave you a hug, followed by Cumulus hugging you as well. Dewdrop sat up and patted your back.

“It’s okay,” He said, “It’s okay you were scared. You’re only human.” You rolled your eyes at that, but gave him a hug anyways. 

You all turned to Mountain, still lying face down in the leaves.

“He’s not…” You trailed off, leaning against Dew.

Aether poked him a bit roughly in the side, and he sprung up suddenly.

“Huh? What? Huh? What?” He said, eyes bleary, whipping his head side to side to look around.

You all chuckled lightly.

“Leave it to Mountain to fall asleep while we all pretend to be dead.” Cumulus said.

“Excuse you, it’s called authenticity, and you could try it sometime.” He shot back, smiling.

You started crying again, although much happier this time.

“Hey, what are the tears for now?” Swiss asked.

“Nothing, it’s just…” You sniffled and wiped your eyes, “you scared the fuck out of me, but you really made me appreciate having you all in my life. Your silly, stupid banter, all your personalities and differences… I love you guys. I’m really happy you’re all ok.” You said, smiling.

“Aww… we love you too!” Cumulus said, as they all smushed you in one big ghoul-pile hug.

“Well, most of us are ok.” Rain said quietly. 

“Dewdrop and Swiss are definitely messed up somewhere in the head.” Mountain finished for him. “Scaring us individually wasn’t planned, but Swiss and Dew kept sneaking us away and filling us in on their plan to really scare you.”

“Well, it worked,” you said in defeat, “this is definitely the scariest Halloween I have had, ever.”

“YES!!!” Dew and Swiss yelled excitedly, high fiving eachother.

“Alright, I’m glad everyone is happy, but we should probably get back before we _really_ get it in with Sister Imperator…” Aether said.

“Good call,” Cirrus followed, and all of you began to stand up and dust yourselves off. Your group all checked eachother over, and you all began to make your way back up the steep incline and back to the path that would take you back to the church grounds.

Before you reached the path, though, you pointed to a clearing a little ways away, and everyone stopped when you asked, “I never noticed that before, what is that?” 

“I’ve never seen that before either, and I walk through here a lot…” Mountain said. All of you looked at eachother before you walked towards it, and when Swiss shined your phone’s light on it, you saw that it was a very small, _very, very, **very**_, old graveyard.

“Oh, my gosh,” you said quietly, looking at the worse-for-wear headstones and rusted wrought iron fence. Some parts of graves and the fence were completely absorbed by foliage and underbrush. “Who’s buried here?”

“Lucifer knows,” Swiss said, shining a light closer to a grave. The years of weather had wiped the headstone completely smooth, there was no way you were finding out who was buried here by looking at it.

“Why don’t we just ask when we get back?” Rain said nervously, wringing his hands together. Mountain patted his back.

“That sounds like a good idea. Come on, guys.”

You all turned away from the graves. You blinked and you were on the path.

“Wait, what…?” You said, you turned around to make sure the ghouls were still with you - thank Satan, they were. But… what just happened…?

They all stood quietly, and also glanced around with wide eyes.

“Weren’t we just…?”

“I thought we were…”

“Didn’t we…?”

“But how could…?”

“Let’s not worry about it.” Aether said stiffly, patting Rain on the back. Even Dew and Swiss looked a bit startled.

You all began following the path, and before you knew it the lamps of the church were in view. All of you let out a sigh of relief as you traipsed back through the doors, and everyone bid eachother goodnight as each of you paired off to make your way back to where you each slept. Aether, Mountain, Rain, and Swiss headed off together down one corridor, and Cirrus and Cumulus down the other. You and Dewdrop began to make your way towards yours when you both suddenly turned to your right - staring down a dark, empty corridor.

“I…” you started, your mouth dry, “I could have sworn the lights were just on down that way.”

Dewdrop nodded, eyes wide and unblinking.

“Everyone else left, right?” You asked quietly.

He nodded again. The sound of footsteps and a shadowy figure in the corner of your eye had you both whipping around to face the way you had been walking, but no one was there.

“Infernal Lord, I’ve had enough. I’ve really had enough.” You said quietly, and Dew gently laid his hand on your back.

“You know what we’re gonna do?” He asked, and you shook your head no. “We’re gonna keep walking back to my room like it was fucking nothing.” You nodded your head sharply in agreement. That sounded good. That sounded really good.

As you two briskly walked back to his room, you couldn’t keep your mind from wondering what the fuck that was. No one was there. But you could have sworn you heard footsteps. You couldn’t deny the unmistakable feeling of being watched the entire time you walked back to Dew’s room.

As soon as you stepped in the threshold, he slammed the door shut, startling his roommate, Ifrit, awake.

“Gods, Dew, what the Hell!?” He asked, rubbing his eyes and turning on the light.

You hated to say it but as soon as Dewdrop shut the door, the feeling of being watched vanished as if it had never been there at all.

“Sorry…” Dew said quietly, “been a long night.”

Ifrit suddenly seemed to sober up, and looked at the small ghoul with a worried expression. “You seem spooked. Are you sure you’re alright?”

Dewdrop nodded, “I just want to sleep.” Ifrit gave him a soft, “okay.” Before he turned the light back out, and you and Dew quickly and quietly changed into your sleep clothes before crawling into bed. Fuck showering, you were way too scared to run down to the baths right now and you just wanted to sleep. As you slowly drifted off, you heard Dew whisper, “We weren’t alone out there…”

“Could you please not say such scary shit while I’m trying to fall asleep?” You quietly pleaded, turning to face him in the dark.

“Sorry…” he said back, squeezing his arm under your neck to wrap around you. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” You said back.

When you awoke in the afternoon, you felt loads better. A bit sore from all the running around, but better. You grabbed a change of clothes and made your way down to the baths. Dew and Ifrit had already disappeared, likely out and about doing their daily tasks around the ministry. After you’d cleaned up and changed clothes, you headed down to the mess hall to grab some much needed food. On the way there, Rain joined you.

“I have some free time too, so I’ll eat with you. Is it okay if my friend comes?” He asked.

“Sure, the more the merrier.” Just as you finished, a short ghoul with long brown hair and pale skin with a ruddy complexion popped out of the adjacent corridor and joined you both. His expression was sour and his blue eyes were piercing.

“Hi, Useful,” Rain said happily, earning him a small smile from the otherwise grungy looking ghoul. “Is it okay if my friend joins us to get food?”

“Sure.” Useful said, his voice raspy and low.

Just as you rounded the corner to enter the mess hall, Sister Imperator turned the other corner and your trio stopped to greet her.

“Good afternoon, Sister!” You said with a smile.

“Good afternoon to you as well,” she said, “have fun on your excursion last night?” She narrowed her eyes. You and Rain both fidgeted under her stare.

“Haha… yes, actually. Even though it was pretty terrifying.” You answered earnestly.

“Well, I’m glad. Just be more careful next time.” She said.

“We will.” You responded, and she began to turn away. Suddenly, you remembered something. “Oh wait!”

Sister turned back around and raised an eyebrow at you, as if to ask, “Yes?”

“When we were coming back, we stumbled on this very ancient looking graveyard. Do you know who’s buried there?” You asked, and Rain turned to look at Sister Imperator as well, interested to hear her answer.

She simply scowled, giving you an odd look.

“You didn’t hit your head falling down that ditch, did you?” She asked sarcastically. Your face scrunched up a little in confusion as you shook your head no. Rain’s expression soured a bit, too.

She simply stared you down, looking between you and Rain, “There are no graves out there.” She said, and then gave you a firm nod as a goodbye. She brushed past you as she continued on her way.

As you, Rain, and Useful stood there, you realized.

You felt like you were being watched.

**Author's Note:**

> muahahaha!!! There likely won't be a chapter two, I think it's best to leave off on that spooky note!!! Happy Halloween!!! If you liked this please let me know!!! I really love feedback! <3


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